Corruption and Rudy Giuliani

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Dry Fly Politics has a great story here.

Yesterday, Time published an article by Michael Duffy titled, Rudy Giuliani’s Kerik Problem. This is more than a problem, it is a train wreck. Here are some troubling passages from the piece:

(The next two paragrapsh occurred in January of 2005. Though the events happened a while ago, it opens a window into Rudy's style.)

The promotion would make Kerik the No. 2 man at the agency overseeing the city’s prisons and lockups. Kerik balked, worried about his qualifications, but Giuliani insisted. “Just do this,” the mayor said. “Do what I’m telling you.” Relenting, Kerik agreed, but as he tells the story in his autobiography, what happened next was a little creepy.

“In this dark sitting room, one by one, the mayor’s closest staff members came forward and kissed me. I know the mayor is as big a fan of The Godfather as I am and I wonder if he noticed how much becoming part of his team resembled becoming part of a Mafia family. I was being made. I was now a part of the Giuliani family, getting the endorsement of the other family members, the other capos.”

A kiss? What is this, Rudy? Back to Steven at DFP:

Obviously the most troubling aspect of the preceding paragraph was the staff members being brought into kiss Kerik. It continues:

The call was the most important Giuliani had to make. And so the choice of Kerik and the relationship between the two men raise legitimate questions about how Giuliani would perform as commander in chief: Does he choose his team members for their competence or for their obedience? Does he prize loyalty at the expense of ethics? Or does he now see in his relationship with Kerik clear lessons about how he rewarded and promoted those around him?

Loyalty isn’t just any virtue for Giuliani; in his memoirs he called it “the vital virtue.” That’s an interesting plug from a man who has been married three times and informed one of his ex-wives that their marriage was over at a press conference. Loyalty, an attractive virtue in friendship, is an alarming one in politics, when faithful cronies are promoted in public service simply because they show fealty to the boss.

This is what is most troubling. While loyalty is important, it is not everything. There are times when circumstances dictate that loyalties be split in order to do the right thing. It appears that Giuliani lacks this ability.

Rudy will be absolutely disasterous!